Putting an end to speculations over the reimbursement of fees in the top 85 engineering colleges in the state, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Thursday, announced that the government would bear the entire fee of meritorious students, based on their eligibility criteria.

Talking to media persons at the state Secretariat, the CM said that the government would reimburse the fees fully in these top colleges for 70% of students admitted under the convenor quota. He said that the government would also take the responsibility of reimbursing the entire fee for students of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in these colleges.

Besides this, Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the government would also provide reimbursement to students who have studied in government colleges and schools, including government-aided and residential institutions. The government would fully bear the fee of students who secured below the 10,000 rank in EAMCET.

Admitting that the counseling for the engineering stream has been delayed by 24 days compared to last year, he said that the decision of fee reimbursement would put an additional burden of Rs. 100 crore on the state?s exchequer. Reiterating that the government would reimburse Rs. 35,000 fee in other colleges, he said that the private colleges have been asked to fill management quota seats by observing transparency without giving any room for suspicion.

The chief minister said that his government would delink the fee structure and scholarship from now onwards to maintain transparency. He said that colleges have been asked to place all infrastructure, teaching faculty and all other details on their websites.

He said that the State Council For Higher Education has been empowered to look into all these issues including the prevention of donations. He said that the task force set up for engineering colleges would look into infrastructure and teaching faculty apart from other issues concerned to ensure quality education.

Kiran Kumar Reddy said that colleges must regularly update records of attendance and performance of students on college's website, apart from informing their parents through SMS or post periodically. He said that the APSCHE would look into the design of new courses that are in demand in the market, by synchronising with industries.

The chief minister said that his government has spent Rs. 8,217 crores on the scholarships of students, and that it is committed to the reimbursement of fees.

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